My First Race, My First Time Getting “It”

I placed 37th out of 104 in my age group, net time was 48:03 and my average pace was 9:36. Not bad for a first time runner.

I ran my very first race this weekend. It was a 5-mile race around my alma-mater, UCF. (check out my last post for the reasons Why I wanted to run this race). Around mile 3 was when I noticed a mental block sneaking up on me. I was pushing my pace the first two miles and when I got to mile 3, I feel like I was overly excited about finishing. I was so close I could feel it and my pace continued to increase. I fatigued rather quickly impressively, I continued at the pace I set at mile 3 and as I rounded the corner of mile 4 and saw that finish line, it was like the holy grail. I was so excited and my adrenaline was pumping. I saw the time on the clock and my goal was to finish under 49:00 and I did.

When I crossed that finish-line, I feel like I finally understood why people run and do these events – like the light bulb went off. It’s not about beating anyone, it’s about finishing and feeling so good about yourself knowing that you got up early on a Sunday morning, laced your shoes up and went for a nice run while the world was still waking up. There were 1200 racers at t his event but it was like I was by myself. Me and the track – no one else to push me harder, no one else to tell me i could do it. All of that came within myself and I think that’s why runners do what WE (yes, I am trying to remove the third party context) do what we do.

When the race was said and done, it was such an amazing moment. I chose to run this race by myself to test myself but when it was over, not having someone at the finish line was a little disappointing. I knew no one would be able to make it – all my friends live far away, my family still lives in KC and my boyfriend was on shift. But, right as I was about to leave, I got a text from Russ and he had surprised me by showing up and bringing our dog, Sage. This man is unreal and I would not be here without him! I am so lucky.

Overall, seeing my name on the website, seeing myself in photos and knowing that I accomplished this run, by myself, is only fueling my fire more and more! Bring on the 13.1 in December!